by Simon Samano, USA TODAY Sports

by Simon Samano, USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys took plenty of heat from the public for allowing nose tackle Josh Brent on the sideline during Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But it seems they were just as surprised as the rest of us to see Brent at Cowboys Stadium.

"I actually talked to Josh on Saturday and visited with him over the phone for a little while, just checked in with him to see how he was doing, if he needed anything from us," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said, via ESPNDallas.com. "Again, he was working through a lot of different things in his life, and just to let him know we support him. Our players have been over to his house, and they've been in contact with him and very close to him.

"So, you know, I didn't actually know he was going to be at the game. But again, we're trying to handle it day by day and work our way through it. We'll have some more discussions about that going forward."

Dallas placed Brent on the reserved non-injury football list after a car crash two weeks ago resulted in the death of practice squad player Jerry Brown and Brent facing intoxication manslaughter charges.

It goes without saying that the Cowboys find themselves in a difficult spot. The organization wants to be there for Brent during this ordeal, yet does a show of solidarity send the wrong message about drunken driving?

Garrett said the team is simply following the wishes of Jerry Brown's mother, Stacey Jackson, who at her son's memorial service stated she still loves Brent and wants the team to look out for him.

"It becomes a real sensitive topic to a lot of people when you're in a public place like the game," Garrett said. "There were no bad intentions other than to support Josh as part of our football team. This is a game and you need to be here. That's what our players wanted to convey to him, and they really encouraged him to come to the game.

"I thought Josh handled it beautifully the way that he came, and then when he felt like there were some issues he felt the right thing to do was to leave. But we're going to support him in every way that we can. We also will be sensitive to this kind of issue."